Local policing 'requires improvement' - report says
'THE public cannot yet be confident that Warwickshire Police is active in its prevention of crime and anti-social behaviour' – a recent inspection report has said.
The force’s rating has been downgraded to ‘requires improvement’ by Her Majesty’s Inspectorate of Constabulary,
The 32-page report said the force was underperforming and had ‘not responded well enough to previous recommendations’.
It found shortcomings in its dealings with victims of domestic abuse, and dished out criticism for not being able to provide information on the number of offenders arrested for domestic abuse-related offences.
Warwickshire Police and Crime Commissioner, Philip Seccombe, and the Assistant Chief Constable, Richard Moore, have both expressed their disappointment at the downgrading from the previous ‘good’ rating.
The report says: “The use of structured problem-solving techniques to prevent crime and anti-social behaviour is not widespread within neighbourhood teams and the force’s understanding of its communities is insufficiently advanced.
“This means its response to problems is not always based on feedback from local communities and it does not evaluate its use of tactics and interventions to improve its service to the public.”
On its handling of allegations of domestic abuse, it adds: “Neither Warwickshire Police nor West Mercia Police [the two work together in a strategic alliance] was able to provide HMIC with data to show that victims were being attended to promptly, that an increasing number of perpetrators were being brought to justice or that better evidence was being gathered to support prosecutions.
Mr Seccombe said: “I will be asking the Chief Constable for a detailed update on the plans to address each of the concerns raised by the Inspectorate.
”Ultimately I want Warwickshire Police to be efficient and effective and do its utmost to protect people from harm, an aspiration which I know the Chief Constable shares.
“I will continue to press for improvement and I expect the force to take the criticisms in the report constructively in order to deliver real progress over the next 12 months.”
